Abstract
In eastern Japan, Yamanashi Prefecture is noted for the high mortality from hepatic disease. The materials used in the present study are 86 cases diagnosed as hepatocellular carcinoma histologically over the past six years and one month and 176 pathological autopsy cases for these past five years at the Yamanashi Social Insurance Hospital. Study was conducted with attention focused on the incidence of schistosomiasis japonica, known as an endemic disease in the Kofu basin. The findings are as follows:
(1) In the 86 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma, the average age was 62.4. The male/female ratio was 6.2. Schistosomiasis japonica was found in 43.0%. HBs antigen testing revealed that 20.0% were positive, while HBs antibody testing showed that 43.4% were positive. Liver cirrhosis was found in 68.5%. To be noted is the fact that the average age and the HBs antibody positivity ratio are high.
(2) Of the 176-pathological autopsy cases, 40 cases or 22.7% were smitten with cancer.
(3) In the pathological autopsy cases, 69 were schistosomiasis japonica cases, of which 30.0% were also affliated with malignancies in the liver. Although the ratio is high when compared with the cancer rate of 18.7% among the non-schistosomiasis cases, the difference is not considered significant. Thus, we should not rush to a conclusion that schistosomiasis japonica is directly involved in the occurrence of cancer in the liver.
